Category: life curation

It’s the last Hump Day before the New Year: can you all believe that we’re already so close to 2019? This year has flown by, but it’s my sincere hope that you all got to see some of your dreams come true during the year or, at very least, made some progress toward achieving your big goals. Remember, taking one step is better than staying still, and you still have time to take one more step before the year end.

I didn’t complete the edits on my novel, though I did make some progress on it. I’m cutting myself a lot of slack with that because edits can take quite a bit of time and mental energy. So, just doing some edits is progress enough for me. Over the next year, I’ll work on it in increments, until the edits are done. This isn’t a priority for me, so I don’t anticipate this being completed until Summer or Fall 2019

I participated in NaNoWriMo, so that goal was achieved (yay!) I didn’t finish my novel but I did say that I would participate, and I did. I will resume working on my NaNoWriMo novel in the upcoming year, with the hopes of finishing it before March 2019.

My how-to book still isn’t published, but I explained why in this post. I haven’t worked out the layout stuff yet, but that’s something I’m focusing on in January 2019. The aim is to have the book published in February 2019.

I actually began tinkering with some video editing software for some travel related content for my YouTube channel. Now that I’ve gotten a little familiar, I’ll be able to publish some videos in the upcoming year. I have the content, but the formatting and “polishing” needs to happen next.

I researched the TSA Pre-Check/Global Entry requirements and determined that I don’t need it just yet. It’s a great option for frequent travelers but it is a multi-step process that takes more time than I’m willing to devote to it right now. However, it’s something I’ll be considering in 2020, when I anticipate I will be doing far more international and domestic air travel.

Goal 3: Dabble in an art career

In 2018, my mini-goals for transitioning into an art career were:

Clarify what kind of art-related career I desire

Create a preliminary career “plan” for my target career

Attend at least three art related events so that I can meet more like-minded people

I’m still not completely clear on the kind of art-related career I want. I’ve considered a few paths and have eliminated some options, so that has clarified my desires somewhat. I’d prefer a singular, clear “yes” rather than multiple clear “nos”, but some clarity is better than nothing, right? I take it that this clarification process will be a gradual unfolding as opposed to a lightning bolt of inspiration. And that’s fine: the fact that this is coming to me gradually is actually kind of exciting. I anticipate that the end result will be better than I could have ever hoped for.

Well, without a target, I couldn’t come up with a preliminary plan. So that has to be put on hold until the actual desire is clarified. Again, that’s fine: I know that getting clear on what I want is going to be key to completing my plan.

I wasn’t feeling my best over the past few weeks, so I wasn’t energetic enough to handle the art events I wanted to attend. However, for January, I have two art events scheduled, and a third event is on my calendar for February. Since I’m still recovering, I have to pace myself as I plan to attend different art events. But I’m eager to get back into the mix, so it won’t be long before I’m out and mingling again.

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Those are my final updates for my 2018 goals. I’ll have a few target goals that I’m working on throughout 2019, and I’ll be sharing those soon. Until then, take care!

Happy Monday, beloveds! I hope you all are enjoying your day and getting your errands done in a comfortable, easy fashion. Christmas Eve is a notoriously hectic day for stores so I’m hoping that you have already done whatever you need to do and that you can just enjoy relaxing before the holiday. However, if you have to go out in the crowds, my thoughts are with you!

This woman looks so full of focus and purpose: may I be her in the upcoming year

As with my previously listed goals, I want to keep things fairly simple. The problem I see that most people make is having too many “irons in the fire”, or too many goals happening simultaneously. The goals tend to be too vague as well: it’s hard to know when you’ve reached your goal if you haven’t gotten crystal clear on what your goal actually is. That’s why it’s important to take some time to sit with your thoughts and feelings, and give yourself the space to suss out the details of what you desire in your future life.

Here are my career and finance goals for 2019:

Develop two additional income streams

“Try out” at least two different art-related careers

Work with a financial planner to begin wealth and legacy planning activities

The intention behind my goals for my career and finance is that I can further create financial independence as well as transition into a satisfying and lucrative career in the art world. There are still a lot of little steps that have to be taken along the way, but the most important thing is to START, and allow the path to unfold in front of me.

Happy Sunday, friends! I spent most of today resting as I’ve had really low energy, but I’m feeling a little refreshed so I wanted to make sure that I get this post done before I get tied up in chores and other activities this evening.

I recently came across a great resource for anyone working on their personal vision statement. You know, having a personal vision statement can do wonders for giving you a “compass” for your behaviors: the right vision statement can help you to stay focused as you work toward accomplishing your goals.

Kelley Rosano is a coach, astrologer, and author that has developed some great materials to support anyone trying to create a more successful future. Her Personal Vision guide has some great questions to help you reveal what really matters to you and what vision is most aligned with your personal desires, strengths and calling.

I’m working through the questions little by little throughout the next week. I’ve already gained so much clarity from this exercise! I’m glad that I found it before the end of the year. I can’t wait to share my vision statement with you all in a few days.

I advise you to check out the Personal Vision guide as well as the other offerings on her Free Resource page. Also, if you’re interested in her services, you can always contact her directly. I love that she has generously provided so many great materials that can be used to get a head start on a productive and successful year!

That’s all for this Sunday: I’ll catch up with you all tomorrow. Enjoy your evening!

Additionally, I’m going to read The Artist’s Wayby Julia Cameron. I’m really interested on how I can best tap into my creativity. I’m hoping that the book will help me on this creativity journey that I’m embarking on in the upcoming year.

I have a book review coming up next week, so look out for that. I’m always reading something, so there’s no shortage of reviews coming your way!

I hope you all had a beautiful Saturday, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow. Take care!

After a fantastic year of enjoying art, I thought it would be good for me to post some of my highlights from the last 12 months.

There really are too many highlights to cram into one post but I’m going to do my best!

I started this year off with viewing the terracotta army statues from China. As you all know, I visited China a few years ago and fell in love, so seeing the statues was like getting a taste of authentic China. I loved it and had a great time viewing the exhibition.

I viewed Portuguese contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and was reminded of my goal to visit Portugal within the next 2 years. Just so you all know, I’ll be resuming my Portuguese language lessons in the upcoming year. I mean it: I’m going to speak Portuguese so that I can enjoy my trip and get around a little better than the average tourist.

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Archives of American Art, I viewed the exquisite and timeless work of Edmonia Lewis. I’m still impressed by her masterful handling of marble and her amazing ability when it comes to depicting her subjects with dignity and full of emotion. I was so impressed with her work that I recently did a comparison of her work with a similarly themed piece, because I simply can’t get tired of discussing Lewis’s work!

The Death of Cleopatra by Edmonia Lewis

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Amy Sherald’s work at the National Portrait Gallery. Her portrait of Michelle Obama is a beautiful and unique interpretation of the former First Lady’s beauty, quiet resilience and charm. Seeing the painting in person impressed me far more than I expected, especially since Sherald’s signature technique forgoes capturing the rich tones of the subjects’ natural complexion and paints skin tone in greyscale, forcing art appreciators to focus on the expressions, posing, and attire depicted. I’m going to view some more of her work and maybe I’ll do an analysis of her style.

I also took a trip to Philadelphia and enjoyed the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There was so much art that I had to make a Part 1 and Part 2 to capture all of what I saw with my visit. I was delighted to see a Jean Leon Gerome painting that I’d never seen before.

Night Flight by Howardena Pindell

I ended my year with the Howardena Pindell exhibition, that I loved so much that I had to visit it multiple times. Pindell is a living treasure, and I am thrilled that I got to see such a comprehensive retrospective of her work.

Those are my art highlights for 2018. I’m looking forward to bringing you all more art and more adventures in 2019!

Welcome, Monday! You’ve been gone for a few days but we’re all somewhat glad to see your return!

As I plan for the upcoming year, I’m reviewing the planner I bought a few weeks ago and starting to think seriously about what goals I’m pursuing in the upcoming year. My challenge is to balance my ambition with a little bit of realism. I don’t want to set my goals too high and then end up missing the mark.

So, I’m taking my time to consider some major areas of my life and set realistic goals that are attainable but still require me to “stretch” a bit. Since I’ve been talking about improving my health since the summer, I figured I’d start with this area.

For 2019, my health and wellness goals are as follows:

Learn to swim

Take at least 3 dancing/fitness courses that I’ve never taken before

Achieve my goal weight

Start working with a naturopathic doctor

My overall goal is improved health and more energy. I know that I can achieve it if I do the work and stay committed. I won’t write a tonabout my health journey – the blog will be taking a more focused turn in the new year – but I will post periodic updates so that you all can keep me accountable.

I’ll have more posts over the next two weeks about my 2019 planning. Look out for those, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!

Happy, happy Saturday! I figured I’d make this last post about the Making Space challenge before the end of the year, because it’ll be 2019 before you know it.

I’m still doing my thing with the challenge. It’s a little easier to “make space” in December because I have more time at home (due to the holidays). When I’m enjoying “down” time, I always start clearing out things and tidying up. That may defeat the purpose of taking time off, but I enjoy it, so that’s that.

However, I also tend to clear out a lot of clutter (in the form of magazines) during this time. Since I create a vision board every New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day, I need images to paste on it. So, a few weeks before NYE, I start ripping up my magazines, putting the images I plan to use in a folder and throwing out the magazine when I’m done. I also will rip out any articles that I’ve been meaning to read: I challenge myself to read them all before the end of December.

Sometimes I read the articles, sometimes I miss my December deadline. It’s the intention that matters though, right? I always intend to do it, and eventually, the articles get read because ripped out pages don’t age well and I get tired of them holding valuable space in my file cabinet.

So for the challenge, I’ve been working through no less than 3 magazines a day. At the rate that I’m going, I will have gotten rid of at least 50 magazines by the end of the year. That’s going to create massive space in my magazine bins, and I can start using those containers for something else (yay!)

Are you all making space before the end of the year? Please let me know in the comments below, and if you’re so inclined, take a pic of how you’re making space and use the hashtag #makingspacechallenge or #makingspace so I can see what you’re up to.